Practice Office Acts of Kindness Through the Holidays

Throughout the holiday season it's important to remember our loved ones. Often, we forget about the people we see everyday at work in an attempt to focus as much attention as possible on family. That being said it's always nice to remember some simple office acts of kindness throughout the holiday season to show love and support to coworkers. After all, we spend 40 hours a week fellow employees. Most corporations promote a team atmosphere and what better way to encourage these beliefs than by showing a little extra effort and support to those around you.

Have you ever had someone go above and beyond for you? If so, you know it's a fantastic feeling. Around Christmas time, we get wrapped up in things like presents when the real focus should be on love and kindness. Simple acts like taking out the trash at work can go a long way. Doing things without the thought of recognition is priceless and always offers a rewarding feeling. Grabbing an extra latte at the local coffee shop for a desk mate, restocking there printer with paper, or watering that half dead plant in there cubicle might not get you an award, but it will sure help morale and team spirit.

It's truly the little things that count. Simply asking members of your team if they need help might surprise you. Being stressed around the holidays is always tough. Sharing the workload, going above and beyond, and simply offering a helping hand at work shows that you care. It's always a good idea to get to know even the biggest introverts on your work force. They say, most of the best friendships you will ever generate form in school and at work. For that reason, getting to know the people on your team and going out of your way to take an interest in their lives might just help you to form a lifelong friendship to be proud of. Strike up a conversation, topics like lunch spot suggestions, news stories, ergonomic office products, and TV shows are a great way to gain info and perspective on coworkers likes and dislikes. Who knows, you might have more in common than you thought!

Does your business throw a holiday party? If so you will probably be pushing the office desks together to play typical games and engage in gift giving. Regardless of whose name you draw to shop for, do a little research. For the love of your job, don't just rush out and by the first candy cane tie you come across. Does your coworker love dogs? Is he or she a sports fan? A few simple questions and a nice conversation can get you the info needed to rock there world when it comes time to share in the office gift giving experience.

So the holiday season is dying down. Everyone is back in there office cubicles and hard at it. Families have headed back home. To be honest, a slight bit of depression can set in if you let it. It's hard to watch your loved ones go and know it could be months before you have the opportunity to see them again. Rest assured, you're  not the only one thats feeling that way. The good news is that your back with your work family who you will be able to relate to and spend time with all year round. Hopefully you have taken the time to show some random acts of kindness throughout the holiday season and built a better friendship with those around you. Bring in some doughnuts or a homemade dip to share after the Holidays have passed. Ask coworkers how there family time went and take an interest. Before you know it these tasks will be like second nature.

In closing, love and respect should be given to those around you without effort and regardless of what holiday is around the corner. Too often we are preoccupied with the next big project and miss the joy of everyday things. Regardless of if you write for an office furniture blog, teach, or run a fortune 500 company, caring goes a long way. The biggest act of kindness you can always share is your time and support of those around you.

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The children of the forest past, come alive...

For a moment we were little again. Free and wild roaming the woods with not a care in the world. It was cold but not unbearable. It was wet but just a medium thick misting of rain flowed from above. Heavy drops coming down from where the water had accumulated on high branches. A comment was made on how it reminded me of the movie scenes set in the forest wilds of Washington or Oregon. The fallen trees bare of bark with wild mushrooms growing in their formation with the luster of whimsical bright moss patches & wet ferns grouped everywhere your eye would land. 

I in my Navy wool Pea coat, jeans,boots, fingerless gloves and a thick beanie. He in a thin fleece overcoat, jeans & Army boots. As well as his small black beanie which barely covered his big head & ears.

A moment we both escaped into as though the last 20 some years were all but a distant dream. It started with a simple invitation to see "my woods". To walk the ridge and look for deer tracks. We walked that ridge and ducked under trees which had been bent by the hand of Nature into M's & U's. We held back thorny berry briar's still thriving with powdery hues of purple & white. Snagged our clothes on wild roses bare of their summer petals and leaves, making our approach a combined effort of movement.Their presence forcing you to be patient and slow as though they demanded you soak in and acknowledge the wonders spread before you.

My baby brother Army... Oh how I adore and love him so. I miss our time together. Just him & me as well as Big brother John Boy. When we would spend from the time the sun was rising until well after it had fallen. Out exploring. Building forts, scavenging for "food" and coming up with the most wild imaginative adventures we, as kids, could come up with. This was a day, like a page direct from our childhood story.

We stood atop the ridge, looking down into the deep ravine. Surveying for a movement. Observing the dips and thick logs laid out in our path. Then he saw it. An arrow! Sticking out from the ground. It's quiver a beacon of pink & white. We did not have to speak a word nor did we for a long period here. We both knew what the other was thinking and gladly descended into the belly of our playground. He motioned  we split up. He on the south. I on the north. Scouring the land beneath each branch. Each leaf & pine needle bed. Gently stepping so as not to break the silence with an echo alerting of our presence. One after another were found with alert to the other a simple small whistle and smile of acknowledgment. At one point he had found over 8 which I could not help but motion my hands up and down as though to say "Dang it man!". Both of us smiling with the mindless way we had stepped right back into time without a second thought or hesitation.

 The sky was turning more grey, alerting us to head back to the house before we were caught in a down pour. Not enough time to build a pine branch lean-to, as we may have done those few decades ago. Oh, how I would have loved to do just that. Sit beneath our Pine fort. Listening to the rain beat down on the leaves and watch the world stay alive as we hold on to the moment of a big sister with her little brother escaping into the past ways of their childhood.

It was the most enjoyable afternoon. The most heart filling time I have had the opportunity to share with him in a very long time. The bonds of brother & sister never broken. Never dismissed. Just hidden deep inside to be brought out on occasion as one would a most cherished treasure.

There will be more of these times. I feel that deep in my heart. There may very well come a time we may not be able to descend the ravine and stay out in the cold rain as we had once done. A time when these memories stirred by a simple scent on the wind. A sound through the trees and a knowing twinkle in each others eyes will be just enough to fill us with sibling love. Resurfacing those moments forever etched into our being.

Until next time....

Sweet dreams my friends,

~Tammie

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Lily of the valley fills the air....

My lily of the valley blooms around mothers day almost every year. I rarely see it. I only know when I walk close by. The scent makes you stop in your tracks and smile. You smile not only because of the wonderful smell but because it is the sure sign nicer weather is here to stay.

~Pink lily of the valley on the left- white variety on the right plus bouquet w/ white in middle~
I have lots of the Pink variety. I had read the pink variety is not as well known as the white but is considered rare among home gardens. I do have some of the white, but on an opposite hill from the sister. I pick a nice hand bunch to place in every room as soon as the bloom. So sweet smelling. Now I am waiting for ( Tractor boy's father) my neighbor's lilac tree's to bloom. He always lets me clip a bunch for the house.
Today we traveled over to a stocked pond fishing place. The Captain's Dad use to take him there when he was a child.
Panda & Lil' man had a blast and by the end, both kids were baiting their own hooks. Now the casting is a whole 'nother subject....
Frog & I tended to the picnic set-up instead of fishing. I really do not enjoy it like they do. It was a beautiful place. Wonderful fields of lush green grass, black birds with the red shoulders were flying and chirping, the wind was blowing, and the children... were not fighting....
It was nice.
I made sandwich's, deviled eggs, romaine & spinach salads, plus this wonderful yummy Berry crumble pie. I have a few bags left in the deep freezer of Blackberries, Raspberries, & blueberries, I have been dying to bake with. So I baked us a pie to take along on the fishing picnic trip. I found the recipe here*, but of course I never do anything by the book. I added cinnamon to the filling & hand crumbled walnuts to the topping. I may perk around with again next time. Maybe add some sweet apple to balance out the overtone of tart berries- Nothing a little Vanilla bean ice cream wouldn't fix. But ice cream on picnic would involve an ice cream maker and we all know when you need an electric outlet, there is never one around. I would love to have a hand crank ice cream maker for that very reason and hope to have one within the next 2 years.
Other things I am working on include a HOMEMADE Cider Press! I would LOVE to have one to make all the apples around here into cider (maybe some "apple jack") and vinegar. I have been on the search for how to's, but everything seems to cost within the same range of just buying one from Lehman's. The wood is pricey since you need it to withstand the pressure from pressing and the spiral ratchet is not inexpensive. I put a request on freecycle, but that is a long shot. I thought maybe, just maybe, someone may have one in their garage they have not used in years or just have no use for. Maybe it is old and needs repaired(-I can bring it back to life). Someone is bound to have one that is just collecting dust and taking up space.
I could go for one of those shop presses and make a cider press, but we'll see what I can find.That is just one of the projects I am looking at. Tell ya more later.
Sweet dreams,
Tammie

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